


Powers Deep Inside

by haraamis



Category: Tactics
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 21:32:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haraamis/pseuds/haraamis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a group of youkai captures Kantarou, Haruka and their friends, the youkai make an offer to let them free, though at a very high price. Maybe even too high?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Powers Deep Inside

**Author's Note:**

  * For [takadainmate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/takadainmate/gifts).



> **Notes:** The story takes place not too long after the end of the anime.  
>  A huge THANK YOU goes to my lovely, devoted beta and personal supporter ;-)!
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** The characters belong to their respective owners. The story is mine.

"No."

Haruka's voice was matter of fact.

The screeching laugh of the giant centipede-like _mononoke_ made Kantarou's skin crawl. Her claws dug painfully into his arms and shoulders, and he didn't dare move, for the razor sharp tip of her forefinger – if one could call it that – was stretched out just shy of touching him again. A thin red line, beaded with shiny drops of blood across the pale skin of Kantarou's throat proved that it was no idle threat.

The laugh turned into an ugly cackling sound. "You have no choice, _Onikui_ , and you know it.

"And neither do you, _Onmyouji_ ," she added, tightening her hold on him even further.

He didn't have to see her face to know that her eyes shone with malicious glee as she loomed above him, her gaze fixed on Haruka, who knelt on the marble floor in front of them. Haruka's face was expressionless, as if chiseled from stone, his back straight and his head held high despite the four chains that lead from the heavy iron collar around his neck to rings fastened to the ground. He seemed as if he didn't care; even his eyes were empty black pools devoid of emotion, fooling everyone who didn’t' know Haruka. But Kantarou did. Only pure, burning rage would steal all feeling from those eyes, and mercy to those at whom it was directed when finally unleashed.

Right now, however, the _youkai_ had the upper hand. Not because of the collar around Haruka's neck and not because of the drop of blood that slowly slid downward from the wound at Kantarou's throat, though neither position could be called comfortable. With only Haruka and Kantarou in danger, Kantarou was sure they could have found a way out with only minimal damage to either of them. They were well practiced in that realm.

A quiet sob from the metal cage that hung from the ceiling to his right reminded him why it wasn't that simple this time around. Hostages tended to change the balance.

From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Youko moving to embrace Rosalie, who had shrunk back into a corner as an ugly little _youkai_ approached her with a shark like leer. Kantarou's hands tightened into angry fists, nails almost piercing the skin of his palms; at the same time Haruka's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

They had to do something, and they had to do it fast.

The _mononoke_ must have felt his movement, and maybe even caught Haruka's, because she started cackling again.

"You know what you have to do, _Onikui_...

"Or should I rather say: who you have to do…"

She let out yet another bout of laughter at her own joke, though Kantarou really couldn't find anything funny in what she'd said.

He was well aware of what her condition for (maybe) freeing them was. He also knew the rumor that most likely caused this whole fiasco. It had sprung up not long after it had become clear that Haruka would stay with Kantarou even after getting back his memories: someone had spread the notion through the _youkai_ world that the _Onikui_ was getting weaker and more and more human by the day, and that he only had to become lovers with a human to actually turn into one himself.

Kantarou personally didn't believe the rumor to be true, but he doubted that their captors would be susceptible to his opinion. The allure of the possibility to render the _Onikui_ powerless, or even get rid of him entirely, was just too great, and if they could humiliate an Onmyouji in the process, as well, all the better.

Truth to be told, Kantarou wasn't exactly opposed to becoming Haruka's lover, quite the contrary, actually, but the present situation was definitely, most _definitely_ not what he'd had envisioned in his dreams.

He didn't want any _youkai_ to watch them. He also didn't want his friends having to watch them. He just didn't want anyone to watch.

Besides, he had no idea about Haruka's thoughts on this matter. He knew the other man liked him well enough to stay with him, to work with him, and considered him important enough to save his life on occasion. Kantarou even dared to believe that Haruka enjoyed his company, though the _Onikui_ wasn't very likely to admit such a thing out loud any time soon, if ever.

But _lovers_ …?

Another cry from the cage tore Kantarou from his musings and made up his mind at the same time. He couldn't risk Youko and Rosalie being hurt. He owed them so much. They were his friends, his family, everything he cared about.

He had to get close to Haruka, so they could sort out what to do, and right now, there seemed to be only one way to do that.

His heart thudding in his throat and his legs weak as jelly, he directed his eyes at Haruka, mentally willing the other man to look at him. Maybe his silent pleading worked, maybe it was coincidence, but only mere seconds later Haruka's eyes locked with his.

Kantarou took a deep breath and then, after holding the other man's gaze for a moment and putting all his trust into that one look, slowly closed his eyes to indicate his surrender. He just hoped that Haruka would figure out what Kantarou was trying to get across.

He wasn't sure if the _youkai_ watching them had grasped the meaning of his and Haruka's wordless exchange, but the air of expectancy around them grew thick and heavy, minutes ticking away as suddenly all eyes were set on Haruka, even the _youkai_ 's who had been busy taunting the girls in the cage.

Kantarou hadn’t realized that he was holding his breath until Haruka's voice broke the silence.

"If I comply, we all are free to go. All of us, no exception. No one shall have any scratch whatsoever."

The _mononoke_ guffawed.

"You really think you are in a position to make demands?" she cried.

Kantarou could easily picture an arrogant smirk on Haruka's lips, though the other man kept his face completely smooth even now.

"How badly do you want this?" Haruka challenged.

Kantarou knew that Haruka was betting on the rather limited intelligence of this kind of _youkai_ , as well as their hate toward the _Onikui_ ; however, the fact that their captors had actually thought of taking additional hostages made Kantarou cross his fingers in the hope that that was the extent of their ability to plan ahead.

The _mononoke_ appeared to consider Haruka's question, then she suddenly shot forward in a creepy flowing motion until her face was only inches from Haruka's.

"Fffffffine," she hissed, obviously furious at having to relent, but the desire to destroy the _Onikui_ seemed to be even stronger.

***

Kantarou could feel the eyes, hundreds, no, thousands of eyes it seemed, on his bare skin, undressing him even though there was no cloth left to take off. His torn _hakama_ and robe lay on the floor beneath him, providing a feeble barrier against the cold, hard marble. They hadn't allowed him to wait for Haruka being released from the chains: the _mononoke_ had taken the task upon herself and all but ripped the garments off his body with gleeful impatience.

Exposed and trembling he waited; the small part within him that earlier had at least been a bit exited at the prospect of doing this with Haruka shrank into nothingness. He'd been a fool to believe he could go through with this for the sake of his friends. There was no love in it, and not the tiniest spark of passion had been detectable in Haruka's agreement. Just duty. Inevitability. Sacrifice. That's what he always ended up with, and he was suddenly so tired of it.

He would not be played this time. It was his choice; no one could force him to do something if he was actually willing to do it. He had to believe that he could turn this to his advantage.

Straightening his back, he was startled to find a shirtless Haruka right in front of him. The flickering light of the torches licked at the _Onikui_ 's gleaming skin, casting shadows where lean muscles shifted as Haruka took the last couple of steps.

Suddenly, the excitement was present again. It was no doubt still laced with the awkwardness of being watched and tainted by the loathing at having the choice of the when and where taken away from him. But it was there, growing stronger and stronger still. It was his choice to accept it.

Deep down in his belly, liquid warmth spread as he watched Haruka moving, coming for him. The knowledge of the raw power that slumbered in that now human looking body, the strength that had always fascinated Kantarou and which he knew he was about to experience up close now: all of this made it possible to tune out his unpleasant surroundings, at least for the moment. Forget about the _mononoke_ and the other _youkai_. Forget about duty and sacrifice. Do what you want.

Live your dream.

His world narrowed down to Haruka, who had finally reached him, stopping mere inches away in front of him.

They weren't touching yet, and Haruka didn't seem in a hurry to do so, either, but Kantarou could feel the heat coming off Haruka's body, beckoning him to lean into it. Soft puffs of breath stirred the hair at the top of his head, causing him to look up and into Haruka's face. It wasn't an empty, stony face this time. For Kantarou it was like being pulled into a whirlpool of emotions, all crashing over him and stealing his breath away. There was want, paired with uncertainty and guilt, but also calculation. Reluctance quarreled with eagerness, as fury and violence battled with tenderness and care. Haruka was a riddle, full of contradictions and incredibly hard to read, let alone understand, but in the end, Kantarou wouldn't have it any other way.

He lifted his hands, slowly, savoring the last few seconds of anticipation, then he placed them flat on Haruka's chest. Haruka's hands closed firmly around Kantarou's upper arms in response. His nails were sharper, pointier than the average human's, but this time, Kantarou didn't mind. He actually couldn't wait to feel them all over, he realized with a shiver that had nothing to do with the chilliness of the room.

"Maybe we shouldn't have agreed to do this. We can still back out, you know." Haruka's voice was but a low rumble in Kantarou's ear; it made him shiver, too.

Kantarou shook his head vigorously. "No," he whispered. "No, we cannot. We've got to save the girls. You know as well as I that the _youkai_ would not let them go unscathed if we were to refuse. They might be stupid, but that makes them all the more dangerous if they don't get their way soon. We also need to figure out what to do once they realize that the rumor is nothing but that…."

He waited a moment for Haruka's reply, but none came.

"Or are you afraid that it's true after all, and you'll turn into a human?" Kantarou let a tad of annoyance slip into his voice, making clear what he thought of that.

A bit surprisingly, Haruka answered him in kind, his tone unusually sharp. "Of course I don't believe it. And I'm not afraid. I…" he trailed off, though something else still seemed to linger in his mind.

Finally he continued. "So, this is all about saving the girls? You are just sacrificing yourself once again for everyone else's sake?"

Kantarou gaped. "Of course it is! They are our friends, we have to…"

He fell silent and his eyes went wide as he suddenly understood what the problem was. He also knew Haruka well enough to realize that it would be up to him to make the first step at resolving it.

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he slid his hands upward over Haruka's collarbones and along the slope of his neck, then finally tangled his fingers in the raven black hair while cupping Haruka's face with part of his palms and his thumbs.

He applied gentle pressure until he'd drawn Haruka's face close enough to touch their foreheads together.

"To be honest, I would not have chosen this place. I certainly could do without the audience." He didn't quite manage to suppress a sigh at that.

Then, knowing what he was about to say, he swallowed hard. "But Haruka, I don't really have any objections to the rest of it. Maybe, just maybe, I should even be thankful, because I'm not sure I would have brought up the courage to ever admit it."

He drew back slightly, just enough to be able to look into Haruka's eyes. "I want you", he mouthed.

There was a flurry of feathers and a resounding outcry of dismay from the assembled _youkai_ as Haruka's wings emerged and enveloped them, shielding them from all the disgusting staring and leering.

***

Kantarou was pulled in and found himself flush against Haruka's body within their cocoon of strong black wings.

"Do you think they are letting us get away with this?" he inquired breathlessly.

Haruka smirked, though Kantarou could only feel the movement against his hair.

"They will. They are still too focused on the end result to care about the means.

So, I think I shall take advantage of the situation."

Before Kantarou could raise any argument, he was being kissed so thoroughly that all thought escaped from his mind; he got lost in the playful battle of lips, tongues, and teeth.

Kantarou was by no means a virgin, but to say he had loads of experience would not have been truthful, either. And it had all been girls…

He let his hands roam over Haruka's back, arms and sides, exploring all that glorious skin he had admired so much earlier. It felt smooth, yet firm under his fingertips; he followed the lines and planes, mapping the muscles and memorizing every reaction his touches evoked. When he earned a particularly loud moan by dragging his fingernail along the waistband of Haruka's pants, he quickly dipped his fingers inside, teasing little patches of skin here and there.

He knew he was doing it right when Haruka, who apparently had been trying to hold still, grabbed Kantarou's buttocks roughly with both hands and ground their hips together in a rolling motion.

An explosion of need erupted in Kantarou's lower body, as intense as he'd never felt before. No dream, no fantasy could live up to this, ever. He pressed against Haruka, fitting as much of their bodies together as possible, but it just wasn't enough.

His erection rubbed against the rough fabric of Haruka's pants, reminding him that the other man was still partly dressed. Kantarou felt strangely offended by this and made quick work of the irritating piece of clothing, which, with a little help from a chuckling Haruka, was gone within seconds.

The chuckle turned into a low moan as skin met skin again, their cocks finally sliding against each other without anything in between. "K…Kantarou…"

"Haruka…" Kantarou sighed in turn.

Feathers gently pressed against his back, stroking, caressing, then gently tugged at him and guided him down to his knees. Haruka steadied him, though hardly broke body contact, and in the end, Kantarou had no idea how they had made it to the floor without toppling over.

His hands were still restlessly wandering over Haruka's body, though he had learned a few knacks on the way. As soon as he found a sensitive spot, he would tease it mercilessly until Haruka retaliated and did something to distract Kantarou, which happened quite frequently. His skin was tingling all over, straining to be touched, stroked, licked. When Haruka scraped his teeth over Kantarou's collarbone and then gently bit his neck for the first time, all he could do was whimper and ask for more.

And more he got. Sensations were a blur of anticipation and need as Haruka lowered him onto his back. He wasn't sure how Haruka did it, and frankly, he didn't care in this tumble of feelings but soon he was slicked up and open and _ready_. All he wanted was Haruka around him, on top of him, inside him. Now.

Twin moans rose from their throats as they finally joined, Haruka settling himself deep inside Kantarou. He stayed like this for a long moment before drawing out again then started a slow rhythm of in and out.

The world around them simply vanished, the hall, the _mononoke_ , the _youkai_ , even their friends were completely forgotten as raw desire took over.

***

The _youkai_ believed that Haruka, by sleeping with a human, would lose his powers and turn human himself. And maybe that would have been true, if Kantarou had been but an ordinary man with no powers of his own and no special connection with Haruka.

As it was, he had both.

Caught up in their spiraling approach toward completion, Kantarou didn't notice that something was different for a rather long time. His entire body was tingling with pleasure and anticipation as Haruka moved within him, so that the prickling of power along his nerves just dissolved in the onslaught of feeling, though only until it became simply too dominant to be ignored.

It wasn't just his nerves along which the tendrils of power took over his body; there was also something like a netting in the area of his solar plexus where the tendrils concentrated and from which they spread out. The netting was trying to push outward now, seeming to strain toward… Haruka. It felt as if it had an equivalent inside the other man, with which it now desperately tried to join.

Haruka must have become aware of it, too, because he suddenly he stilled. They both groaned at the interruption, but without the frantic movement the weird sensation got even more intensive. Haruka rested his cheek against Kantarou's to rumble into his ear. "What is this? What is going on?"

Kantarou answered in a low, breathless voice. "I don't know, but it feels as if something inside me wants out and into you. Everything is tingling, almost hurts..."

Kantarou shifted, incidentally causing Haruka to slide deeper inside again… and the prickling power intensified. He did it again, this time deliberately, and the power reacted just the same. Now that he'd become used to the sensation, it actually felt good. No, not just good; it felt amazing, as if he was aware tenfold of every touch, every movement, every jolt of pleasure racing through him.

"Haruka… I believe we just have to go on and finish. It feels as if it's working toward something, but I don't have a clue what it could be, and I don't think we can stop it"

Haruka didn't answer but simply picked up his rhythm, pushing in and out with rolling hips as Kantarou clung to him, meeting him with every thrust.

Soon they were back to soaring toward unknown heights, power and pleasure taking them along on a journey of mingling and parting, dancing with and around each other, until it felt as if they would burst.

The very moment Kantarou tipped over the edge into orgasm and felt Haruka climax inside him as well, the netting spilled from Kantarou's belly and poured into Haruka's, just as a similar netting burst from Haruka's body and entered Kantarou's, though the extended ropes of power still remained in the original body.

Together, they formed the center of a ball of energy that seemed to keep expanding around Haruka and Kantarou further and further. Full of wonder and disbelief, Kantarou realized that it must be their _combined_ powers that did this, that they had joined in such a forceful way that they sought some kind, any kind of release now.

Touching his forehead to Haruka's once again, Kantarou whispered, "We need to let go of it." He wasn't sure why, but he knew with absolute certainty that they had to do it.

Haruka simply nodded. Kantarou felt him reach into the center, joined him there, and together as one, they released the power.

***

When Haruka finally lifted his wings it looked as if a small bomb had hit the hall: _youkai_ bodies lay strewn across the floor along with weapons and pieces of wood from the spare furniture that had adorned the place. Even the giant _mononoke_ was sprawled out, belly up and out cold.

As far as Kantarou could tell, none of them was dead, but unconscious without exception.

Voices from above him corrected that impression. Both Youko and Rosalie seemed to be perfectly awake, though somewhat frightened, and they were quite adamant and vocal about how it was about damn time they were let out of the cage. Kantarou suspected, however, that it had been the iron of the cage that had kept them unscathed by the blast. He made a mental note to tell Haruka about that notion later, but for the moment he just complied, helping Haruka release the chain that held the cage and lower it gently to the floor where the girls could step out of it.

"I think we should just leave. No harm was done in the end, and I'm quite sure, they won't try the same very soon again", Kantarou paused briefly before adding, "Though on second thought, maybe we should seal this place, at least temporarily."

Haruka, as vocal as ever, nodded his assent, and Youko and Rosalie agreed as well. They made quick work of it with their ample practice, though Kantarou got the feeling that it actually went faster and with much less effort than usually. The power just flowed out of him, shaping at his mere thought and before he could even utter the required chants.

Something had happened when his and Haruka's powers had joined, as if they had come out from deep inside them, had been transformed and amplified. They would have to explore their possibilities further, as soon as possible, Kantarou thought and flashed a grin at Haruka. The other man just raised an eyebrow and shrugged, setting his lanky body into motion to make clear that they were to go home now. Youko and Rosalie quickly sprang to his side, falling into step with him.

Kantarou smiled to himself and followed them. Some things never changed, but others definitely had.


End file.
